Italian Stress Puppy

Ferrari to Grimaldi today. 

I almost cried when I started the car. It was terrible - would I make it ? I decided to give it a go - pop and bang all the way to the petrol station. Filling it up I had to wait behind a car for a while but the Ferrari was ticking over ok. So a good omen.

Then as I accelerated away it was backfiring again and down went the blackness - but it seemed to settle. Then the same happened again as I accelerated on the A12 but again it settled in the end.

It was very tense run but I relaxed a bit by the end. The car dropped on to 7 and a half cylinders after a few miles but kept going - and at last we arrived safely.

Steve thought it was the same plug as before #8, but Roberto said #4 last time. They have also fitted several without other reports and problems - so am I just unlucky ? Here it is with the dead one top right.

After an hour of them working they had fitted the car with a secondhand Marelli distributor cap and fired it up. It was almost as bad as before. I took a deep breath. Then after checking (and correcting where the leads were plugged in) it was better - but still not right. My heart sank.

They cleaned the effected plug a bit more - better but still a bit rough. However changing the plugs to a new set brought the result. Smooth tick over and clean revving. Smiles all round.

The run back was good - the car was car back to its old self - how many times have I said that in the last two years. 

So there we are - it really needs a clean again before I put it away for the Winter but we'll see.

What next ? To celebrate I took the Aston out on a run to save the planet - just like old times.

I noticed the splitter was home to several Ladybirds - odd.

I can only assume they liked the warmth.

So two down and one to go.